Tuesday, 30 November 2010

Never to be forgotten

John McKelvie was my mum’s fiancé and her one true love …always in her thoughts till the day she died.

He had volunteered for the Air force as soon as war broke out, much to mums annoyance and after training, was given the dangerous position of rear gunner. He was soon told of his promotion to sergeant and that he was to become an instructor, reducing the chances of flying missions. This being the case both John and Mum felt more confident of their future and they dared to think of marriage plans, maybe on his next leave.

At the end of June 1940 Mum was informed that he was missing in action …. from the 17th …she was devastated but did not give up hope over the months that followed, often walking where they walked together and praying for his safe return, imagining him being a prisoner of war.

At the end of December the grave news came that he had been killed on the 17th June and buried on the 24th, at St Nazaire. Mum told me that he had been thought to have been on the troop ship ‘Lancastria’, when it was bombed and sunk, so had actually survived some conflict in the air before hand.

This was all that she knew … and I certainly had never heard of the ship and its sinking … so when I was reading and transcribing mums notes and memories, that I had persuaded her to commit to papera few years before her death, I did some research.

He was on the list of those lost on the ship and probably was below deck in line for a direct hit. It is a tragedy that was hidden from the British public, for fear it would damage moral at a difficult time ….a Churchill cover-up. There is a book well worth reading….The Sinking of the Lancastria by Jonathan Fenby ….. if you are interested ….but facts that should be known are that if you add the number of dead from the Lusitania and those from the Titanic, together,you still have not reached the suspected total of lives lost from the sinking of Lancastria and this occurred only two weeks after the well documented, Operation Dynamo…..which every oneknows as the evacuation of the troops fromNormandy beaches.

John may not hold any ties to me but I do not want him or the Lancastria, forgotten …. so this LO will proudly sit within my FH album as a reminder for any that look through, in the years to come..

21 comments:

The stories of these young men whose lives were sacrificed, who died without children to carry on the name, need to be told and treasured. I think you do have a tie to John through your mother's love for him--and you have told his story well.

Love the you've combined your genealogy with scrapping. I suspect you and I might be kindred spirits. Mine's a baby blog, haven't had the time to add the scrappy bits yet. I also share your view of gardening. I look forward to taking the time to read all your entries.

How strange Angie. My Mum, who was born in 1920 and was a young nurse in WW2, also had a fiance who was an RAF Sergeant. Leonard was a rear gunner on a Lancaster in Bomber Command. His plane was shot down during the Peenamunde (sp?) Raid and he and his crew mates met their end somewhere in the Kattegat Sea. She kept his photo and some telegrams, although she didn`t speak much of him. Such tragic losses of these young men.

Yes, it is amazing how many things went on during the war. Churchill and Roosevelt and Hopkins kept many things away from the people in those days. How sad that the story of this ship and its crew was never recognized.

I was just looking over some old posts of mine and saw your name and I thought I have not been in contact with her for a long time. These stories (I went ahead and read about your relatives) are fascinating. Whenever you have written about one, the person whose material you are reading was very insightful and gave you so many lovely details! I enjoyed them so much. Come visit me again!

Oh Angie, every time I come to your blog (which is often) I feel so guilty that I’ve not done anymore to my album. But this is the year and after my eye op next month you can expect to see more pages from me. You really do inspire me so I’ve decided to give you a well deserved ‘Stylish Blogger’ award. You can see the details over on My Blog

Hi Angie x thank you for your kind comment on my blog in order to contact you I came on this blog and what a delight x I have also become a follower (couldnt resist) x You asked about my address for peel offs this would be most welcome thank you very much for contacting me, if you email me on: charitycrafter@yahoo.co.uk I will send you my address, I dont publish my address as I was advised against it x thanks again x Leigh x aka charitycrafteron blog: charitycrafter.blogspot.com

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About Me

I am an over weight, under exercised OAP who lived most of her life in Surrey but due to the call of her roots ended up in Scotland.
Mother of two,nana of five and servant to oh so many cats.
My two passions are Family History and Scrapping.I enjoy photography but I'm more of a point and shoot kind of person. I also love flowers and growing tomatoes but I'm a very lazy gardener and wish it would happen without any effort.
When I was young I dreamt of being a singer but now I dream of writing a book but never get further than chapter3 !
Well that me in a nut shell!